Camina Burana

The esteemed English recorder player, conductor and teacher, Philip Pickett, began his musical career as a trumpet player; his interest in the high trumpet parts of Bach and other Baroque composers was fostered by Anthony Baines and David Munrow, who introduced him to all the families of early wind instruments. This led him to take up the recorder, crumhorn, shawm, rackett etc, and he quickly became well-known as Britain's leading advocate of such instruments.

EMI Has rereleased this classic recording of Carmina Burana, and thank Heaven! No other performance – and there are so many excellent ones – quite captures the spirit of this magnificent work so truly. Fruehbeck de Burgos keeps magisterial control over the enormous forces, the choir of boys is excellent, and the soloists are second to none.

Carmina Burana, the staged cantata by Carl Orff, is a work unique in musical history, claims conductor Paavo Jarvi: 'The convergence of medieval texts with such daringly original orchestral colours creates a soundworld that is both archaic and yet beyond time, in which chorus, orchestra and soloists vie in splendour.'

Carmina Burana, the staged cantata by Carl Orff, is a work unique in musical history, claims conductor Paavo Järvi: ‘The convergence of medieval texts with such daringly original orchestral colours creates a soundworld that is both archaic and yet beyond time, in which chorus, orchestra and soloists vie in splendour.’ The work also has an unusual history: composed shortly after the Nazi takeover of Germany, it was at first rejected because of its Latin texts and the erotic character of some of its songs; yet Orff and his work subsequently became highly prized by the Reich. The composer (who was secretly ‘a quarter Jewish’) did not support the regime, but made the best of his success… Orff was 42 by the time he experienced this breakthrough with his Carmina, which he designated as his Op. 1, disowning all his previous compositions. Departing from the Romantic style, he now wanted to create music linked to rhythm, simple repeated melodies, and non-complex forms. This work’s popular success confirmed that decision.

Recorded live at the Barbican Centre in November 2007, Richard Hickox conducts Carl Orff’s immensely popular dramatic cantata Carmina Burana with the London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus and soloists, Barry Banks, Laura Claycomb and Christopher Maltman. The score’s combination of gloriously infectious vulgarity interspersed with moments of genuine beauty has assured it an unquestionable position as one of the most popular of all twentieth-century choral works.

Recorded live at the Barbican Centre in November 2007, Richard Hickox conducts Carl Orff’s immensely popular dramatic cantata Carmina Burana with the London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus and soloists, Barry Banks, Laura Claycomb and Christopher Maltman. The score’s combination of gloriously infectious vulgarity interspersed with moments of genuine beauty has assured it an unquestionable position as one of the most popular of all twentieth-century choral works.

Powerful rhythms, mighty choirs and captivating melodies: Carl Orff's »Carmina Burana« emanates pure sound energy that gets under your skin.

Carmina Burana, the staged cantata by Carl Orff, is a work unique in musical history, claims conductor Paavo Jarvi: 'The convergence of medieval texts with such daringly original orchestral colours creates a soundworld that is both archaic and yet beyond time, in which chorus, orchestra and soloists vie in splendour.'

Carmina Burana, the staged cantata by Carl Orff, is a work unique in musical history, claims conductor Paavo Järvi: ‘The convergence of medieval texts with such daringly original orchestral colours creates a soundworld that is both archaic and yet beyond time, in which chorus, orchestra and soloists vie in splendour.’ The work also has an unusual history: composed shortly after the Nazi takeover of Germany, it was at first rejected because of its Latin texts and the erotic character of some of its songs; yet Orff and his work subsequently became highly prized by the Reich. The composer (who was secretly ‘a quarter Jewish’) did not support the regime, but made the best of his success… Orff was 42 by the time he experienced this breakthrough with his Carmina, which he designated as his Op. 1, disowning all his previous compositions. Departing from the Romantic style, he now wanted to create music linked to rhythm, simple repeated melodies, and non-complex forms. This work’s popular success confirmed that decision.

Deutsche Grammophon, the world’s oldest classical label, celebrated its 120th anniversary with a concert of great cultural and historical significance at Beijing’s Forbidden City on October 10. This is the first classical concert to be hosted there since 1998 and the most important one since the Three Tenors stood on stage together in 1994.